More Powerful than Pain
by absolute power
Summary: Artemis faces unbearable sacrifice... Can a group of friends help him recover?


**I love this story, if I say so myself. It's the plot, you see. I've never seen a story like this before. I like being original, so forgive me if there are any other stories like this out.  
Disclaimer:** Thankfully I didn't forget this. Anyway, I own Jake, Jared, Alyana... and I own Artemis's iPod. Heehee.

Artemis had always liked having the Manor to himself. That's why he agreed immediately when his father told him to stay behind.

"We're off to see someone, okay? Well, some people, actually. Jared and Alyana Commons. They're actually the parents of your friend Jake, so is there anything you want us to tell him?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say he was my friend," Artemis said. If he hadn't spoken, you would have sworn he was completely ignoring his father. His eyes were fixed on the computer screen, and his fingers were flying across the keyboard. "Perhaps you could tell him to return that iPod Shuffle I let him borrow. I hardly use it, but he should have returned it months ago."

Artemis Senior smiled. "Looks like you have a love/hate relationship. Don't worry, I'll tell him that. And maybe Butler would want to know that Sid Commons will be there too. Tell him that, okay? I can't find him anywhere."

"He is in Juliet's room, giving her a lecture. He caught her yesterday with one of the teenagers around here."

"Fine, I'll tell him."

Artemis suddenly turned to him. "Maybe you should let Juliet drive this time. She has wanted to drive again since that incident when you broke your arm. She's been asking me if I want to go out. This is a good time to let her do it."

His father considered it. "I suppose it wouldn't do much harm. She's twenty-five already, and she has a license. Now you, my son, should get your own license."

"I have no interest in driving," he replied, turning back to his laptop.

"You're eighteen now. No normal teenage boy wouldn't want to drive."

"I am not normal."

"Fine then, no self-respecting teenage boy wouldn't want to drive."

Artemis stopped typing. He seemed to ponder this sentence for a long time. His father took that as his triumph. "There is no comeback to that," he said finally. "Fine. I'll drive for a while. But my birthday is the day after tomorrow, and I expect to stop by then."

"Fine then," his father said, with a hint of amusement. "You'll stop by your birthday." Then he thought for a moment. "Nearly nineteen, Arty. You're growing up fast. What do you plan on being when you're an adult?"

He thought about this. "I want something to do with genetics, to get a proper start on it. Do you remember the tickets to the genetics symposium I asked for when I turned fourteen? I want to prove those idiots wrong. The only way I can do that is to study genetics, so people will not claim that I got my ideas from a different scientist."

"Rather ambitious."

Artemis smiled. "What can I say? I'm a Fowl. From what you told me yesterday, you were rather ambitious as well."

"What can I say? I'm a Fowl."

His mother came in. "Nice to see we're having a little family chat," she said. "So, did you tell your father whatever you want to say to Jake?"

"He told me to tell him to return the iPod Shuffle," his father smiled. "It seems as though our boy has yet another contraption we don't know about."

Artemis sighed. "Juliet gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday. She seemed to think every teenager needed it. She has been borrowing it every day, until I let Jake borrow it. She seems to have forgotten about it now."

His parents checked the time. "God, we're nearly late. Got to go, Arty. We'll be back in an hour or so."

He didn't bother with elaborate good byes. They would be back in an hour or so. He simply muttered a quick "Goodbye" and went back to typing.

Three hours had passed before he knew it. He noticed Butler standing in the door several times, but he didn't think much about it, until he finally spoke.

"Artemis?"

He was surprised. Butler's normally deep tones were now high-pitched, as if he were on the edge of tears. Strange, for a man like him. "Yes, Butler?"

"Your parents- Juliet…"

Artemis noticed the time. "Have they been delayed?"

Butler buried his face in his hands, an unusual act for him. "They… They died in a car crash. Juliet was overtaking, and a truck slammed into them."

Artemis's brain didn't process this at first. _Oh, my parents are dead,_ he thought. Then he realized. "My parents are… dead?"

His bodyguard nodded.

His parents were dead. He was an orphan.

_I've killed them. I shouldn't have let them go. I could have warned them about reckless drivers._

_I didn't even get to say goodbye._

He slumped forward onto his desk, tears streaming from his eyes.

Artemis had always liked having the Manor to himself. But never like this. Never for forever.

**Wait for the second chapter! It will come. It is written. And it is... short. Haha. But I might lengthen it a bit.**


End file.
